Yahoo Sports reported Wednesday that five SEC players received improper benefits during their college careers, including former Alabama offensive tackle D.J. Fluker.

The players were Fluker, who started on two national title teams, Tennessee's Tyler Bray and Maurice Couch and Mississippi State's Fletcher Cox and Chad Bumphis.

The report cited text messages and financial records of former Alabama defensive end Luther Davis and an unnamed NFL source who said Davis was a go-between for the players with NFL agents and financial advisers.

Fluker, Bray and Cox are currently playing in the NFL.

All three schools issued statements Wednesday saying they are investigating the allegations.

The report comes on the heels of Sports Illustrated articles outlining alleged misconduct within the Oklahoma State program. Former Cowboys quarterback Brandon Weedon called the allegations "comical."

Grambling State fired coach Doug Williams after the Tigers lost the first two games of the season. Running backs coach George Ragsdale was named interim coach. Grambling went 1-10 in 2012 under the former NFL quarterback and Super Bowl MVP.

Motor sports

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Front Row Motorsports asked for a deal from Penske Racing in the closing laps of last week's race at Richmond and then helped Penske's Joey Logano make the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, according to an AP review of radio communications. Logano passed David Gilliland on a late restart and finished 22nd -- a spot ahead of Gilliland and good enough for a berth in the Chase field. Earlier this week, NASCAR punished Michael Waltrip Racing and pulled Martin Truex Jr. out of the Chase field.

Kimi Raikkonen will return to Ferrari as a replacement for Felipe Massa, giving the Formula One team a new partner for Fernando Alonso. Raikkonen drives for Lotus. He raced for Ferrari from 2007-09.

Miscellany

Sir Ben Ainslie subbed out struggling tactician John Kostecki for Oracle Team USA's training session on San Francisco Bay. The team didn't confirm if Ainslie will be on the boat Thursday for Races 6 and 7 against Emirates Team New Zealand. Ainslie has been serving as helmsman of Oracle's B boat. The Kiwis lead 4 to minus-1 and need five wins to claim the cup.

Former major leaguer Wladimir Balentien hit his 55th home run, tying Japanese baseball's single-season record. He matched the mark held by Sadaharu Oh, Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera and has 21 games left. He hit a solo homer, but the Yakult Swallows lost 6-2 to the Hiroshima Carp.

General manager Stan Bowman and the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks agreed to a two-year contract extension through the 2017-18 season. ...

Carolina defenseman Joni Pitkanen will miss the upcoming season as he continues to recover from a broken heel.